Timothy W. Burke, 65, was accused of targeting homeowners who were going through foreclosure from 2010 to November 2015 and convincing them that he would buy their homes and pay off their mortgages. Federal officials said he went as far as telling the victims they could ignore any notices regarding foreclosure, but instead of paying off the mortgages, Burke advertised the properties and rented them for thousands of dollars.

Burke pocketed the money and many of the houses he purported to have bought ended up being foreclosed upon, according to federal officials.

The NBC Connecticut Troubleshooters began looking into Burke in 2014 and found that he used more than 20 aliases and business names, including "Jimmy" and "Bill." An IRS investigator credits the Troubleshooters’ coverage with exposing the scheme and preventing more victims.